


Lungs get heavy

by Crazy_lil_munchkin



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Creature Stiles, Derek is a Good Alpha, Derek is a Softie, M/M, Mer Stiles, Merman Stiles, Panic, stiles has a tail
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-12
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-02-12 20:46:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2124156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazy_lil_munchkin/pseuds/Crazy_lil_munchkin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles was always told, ever since he was a young mer, not to swim too far up the river, especially in winter.</p><p>Stiles had swam too far up the river. In winter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Stiles was always told, ever since he was a young mer, not to swim too far up the river, especially in winter.

Stiles had swam too far up the river. In winter.

He was on his way back down the river after scouting for salmon, when he discovered that the water had frozen halfway up the long river, trapping him in.

What does a merman have to do to catch a break around here?

Hell if Stiles knew.

Stiles was anxiously browsing through his options when he heard a shout.

"Hey! This is private property!"

Stiles spun quickly and came face-to-face with the sight of a greek god coming towards the ice.

Okay, it was a man, a very attractive man.

With.... legs.

"Uh..." Stiles was speechless.

"What the hell are you doing in there?! You could freeze to death," The beautiful man was incredulous.

Stiles snapped out of it quickly, "Well, no, I couldn't. My body is made for drastic temperatures,"

The man growled lowly, taking a defensive stance.

"Woah! Woah, oh my god,"

Stiles gasped as the man's eyes turned a deep red.

He'd never seen a werewolf before, just heard stories.

"Holy crap, you're a werewolf!"

The man- no, werewolf- stopped growling and took a closer look at Stiles.

"Get out of the water."

Stiles complied, pulling himself up on the ice, bringing his long raven tail with him.

"You're a mermaid." He stated. 

"Mer _ **man**_!" Stiles blurted offended. 

"Right,"

There was an awkward silence as Stiles got back in the water.

"So, you come here often?" Stiles chirped.

"I live here." 

"Oh, well sorry for intruding your humble abode, but I seem to be a little stuck," Stiles pointedly glares at the ice.

The werewolf huffed, amused, "You're more than a little stuck, that ice won't melt for days. Maybe even a week,"

"What?!" Stiles whimpered, panicked.

"Sure, I can stay in this cold water for a few hours, but not days! Holy oblivion what am I going to do?!"

"What will happen if you don't get out in time?" The wolf asked slightly concerned. 

"I'll......I'll die," Stiles says quietly. 

He starts shaking, forming ripples in the water. 

"I don't wanna die!"

The wolf got on his knees near the edge of the ice.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. You're not going to die,"

Stiles stopped shaking and looked at him, making a distressed sound.

"How about this, I can take you back to my place and look after you until the river starts again?"

Stiles blinked up into green eyes.

"How do I know you won't hurt me?"

The eyes blinked back.

"I guess you don't, but if it's any help, I promise I won't,"

Stiles considered this.

"What's your name?"

"Derek,"

He nodded. 

"Stiles,"

The wol- Derek nodded back. 

"So will you?"

Stiles blinked, before getting out of the water.

He saw the corner of Derek’s mouth twitch up slightly. 

"Uh, so... do I just... pick you up?"

"No, you drag me by my eyelid,"

Derek snorted before reaching under Stiles' arms and mid-tail and picking him up.

He tried not to grin as Stiles yelped and wrap his arms around his neck.


	2. People Get Still

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek takes Stiles to his home and something seems a little fishy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suddenly, out from the jungle, jumped a wild chapter.
> 
> "I'm fashionably late, sue me."
> 
>  
> 
> Also, I've got bad puns for dayzzz.

Stiles had drifted off to the gentle sway of Derek's steps, arms wrapped firmly around his neck.

He cuddled up against the warm skin of Derek's right pectoral as he was taken away.

Suddenly, Derek's steps sounded heavier.

Stiles opened his eyes and looked around to see Derek had finished his journey and they were at their destination.

The door creaked as it was pushed open, then slammed shut by the harsh wind.

"Rude,"

Derek huffed and Stiles blinked slowly at his new surroundings.

It was a brick structure, included minimal colour and shades of grey.

"So ah... do you--you need to be in water right?" Derek stutters.

"As far as I know, if we stay out of water we lose our tails... I'm not all too sure though. Jackson can't be trusted."

"Jackson?"

"This stuck-up flourishing mer that has bullied me and my best friend for years."

A frown came across Derek's face and Stiles chuckled.

"Sourwolf."

Derek frowned harder.

Stiles burst into laughter.

"You're cute." Stiles muttered as he reached up to smooth the lines on Derek's forehead.

Derek did not look at Stiles fondly. _He did not._

"Okay how about we go to my bathroom and wait and see what happens. If you start feeling bad or ill we'll put you in the bath, okay?"

Stiles nodded.

"Okay,"

Derek began making his way to the bathroom.

"But, um... just one question... What's a bath?"

Derek sighed.

"You'll find out soon enough."

\---

"It's... small?"

Derek huffed, grumpily.

"It's the biggest bath you'll find in California,"

"Huh,"

He put Stiles down on the bench near the bath, careful of his tail.

"So how long is this supposed to take?"

"Uhh.... Jackson didn't say."

"Helpful," Derek muttered.

Stiles nodded sagely.

"Very."

Derek sighed, moving his gaze to the bathtub, turning the warm water on. He began muttering to himself.

"Would you need salt in here? No... the rivers freshwater. _Stupid._ "

Stiles grinned, hearing everything his werewolf was saying. Mers had pretty good hearing if Stiles did say so himself--wait.

His werewolf?

Where the hell did that come from. Derek was not his. Or anybodies as far as Stiles could tell.

But you never know, maybe werewolves were possessive about their lovers?

"--I said, do you feel any different?" Stiles jumped as his focus returned. Derek was swishing his hands through the warm water, testing the temperature.

"Who?" He blurted.

Derek frowned. "I'll take that as a yes."

Stiles blushed. "Heh..."

Derek shook his head, still not looking at him.

"Do you need to get in the water?"

Stiles looked down at his legs and--

_Legs._

"Oh,"

Stiles muttered before promptly passing out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Two years later..._


	3. Wiggly Toes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles awakens from his leg induced slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry.
> 
> If it helps, this isn't the only fic I haven't updated all year?
> 
> HEH.

A long groan left Stiles' mouth as he sat up.

Blinking unconsciousness from his mind, he glanced around.

Stiles was in some sort of room, coloured pale blues and greens. It was pleasant on the eyes.

He ran his hands across the fabric covering his lower half, committing the sensation to memory.

Bracing himself, Stiles tugged at the material, revealing his new appendages.

His… legs.

But something was off. There was something other than his legs that Stiles had never encountered before.

He tilted his head to the side.

“What in Neptune’s name is _that_?”

Stiles was utterly baffled.

“Oh, you’re awake. Good, I was just going to-“ Derek glanced down at Stiles’ lower half from his place by the door.

“Uh,”

Stiles perked up at the appearance of a knowledgeable source.

“Derek what the hell is this?” He asked, gesturing at his crotch.

Derek went red. 

“Uh,”

Stiles raised an eyebrow.

“You already said that.”

Derek covered his face.

“Uh, could you perhaps pull the covers up again? I’ll explain in a second, I promise,”

Stiles frowned but complied. Derek peeked through his fingers and sighed with relief when he saw that Stiles was decent.

He walked over and sat by Stiles on the bed.

“Okay, so. How do I put this?” Derek ran a hand over his chin.

“Right, okay. Stiles, did the uh… females of your kind have anything kind of… covering their chests?” He asked, cringing slightly at his fumbled words.

Stiles tilted his head. “Well yeah, what girl would go swimming around with her boobs out, that’d be weird?”

Derek let out a breath of relief.

“Right, exactly. Well, this is kind of like that, okay? It’s kind of a custom in the human world.”

Stiles nodded thoughtfully. “Okay, but you’re not human? And you still wear, um…”

“Pants,” Derek offered.

“Right, you still wear pants.” He argued.

Derek nodded, “Yeah, I do. I may be a werewolf but essentially any humanoid being that interacts with the human world wears clothing.”

Stiles nodded. “Ah,”

Derek smiled, awkwardly.

“So… what exactly is this… thing? Limb? I don’t…” Stiles trailed off, looking bewildered.

Oh god. Derek had to give him the talk.

Derek took a deep breath.

“Uh, it’s… well...”

Perhaps he should go with the scientific approach?

“It’s your male reproductive organ,” Derek offered.

Stiles blinked.

“Oh. So it’s my dick?”

Derek closed his eyes and lowered his head gently.

“…Yes.” He muttered softly, as if he were in the presence of a newborn.

Stiles perked up. “Oh, well why didn’t you just say that?”

Derek snorted. What the hell was he going to do with this guy?

\---

After going through the effort of talking Stiles through getting underwear and pants on, he was ecstatic to start walking around.

Derek didn’t think it was adorable. _He did not._

“Come on! I want to feel the ground beneath my new feet, I want to walk, I want to _run _, Derek!” Stiles exclaimed, hanging off of Derek’s shoulders.__

__Derek smiled down at him. “Hopefully not away from me?”_ _

__Stiles frowned, adorably confused. “Why would I ever want to do that?”_ _

__Derek _did not_ just melt a little._ _

__Stiles started whining so Derek got into gear._ _

__He rose from his position bent over Stiles and pulled the mer up along with him._ _

__“Okay, so I’ll just hold you while you get used to your own weight”_ _

__Stiles shrieked excitedly, wriggling in Derek’s grip._ _

__Derek couldn’t help but chuckle at him._ _

__“Derek! Derek, look I can stand!” Stiles babbled happily as Derek looked down between their bodies to watch Stiles’ toes wiggling like they had never wiggled before (which, they hadn’t)._ _

__Seriously, what was Derek going to do with this _definitely not adorable_ guy?_ _


End file.
